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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
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6

New Mexico Bans Death Penalty

Guv abolishes executions after wrestling with conscience

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(Newser) – New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has signed a bill abolishing the state's death penalty, reports the Santa Fe New Mexican. Richardson, who formerly supported capital punishment, said replacing execution with life in prison without the possibility of parole was “the most difficult decision of his political life.” He noted that 130 death-row prisoners have been exonerated in the last decade, four of them in New Mexico.

“I do not have confidence in the criminal justice system as it currently operates to be the final arbiter when it comes to who lives and who dies for their crime," said Richardson. His state becomes only the second to ban executions since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976. The move will not affect the sentences of the two prisoners currently on death row.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said deciding to abolish the death penalty was the toughest choice of his political life.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said deciding to abolish the death penalty was the toughest choice of his political life.   (AP Photo/Roswell Daily Record Mark Wilson)
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has signed a bill repealing the state's death penalty.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has signed a bill repealing the state's death penalty.   (AP Photo / Craig Fritz)
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Faced with the reality that our system for imposing the death penalty can never be perfect, my conscience compels me to replace the death penalty with a solution that keeps
society safe. - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson

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6 comments
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Mad
Mar 19, 09 3:42 AM CDT
Righteous, Brother Richardson. Clemency, demonstrating mercy, is true compassion that conservatives rarely seem to exhibit. Bless your wisdom Reply
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Rob
Mar 19, 09 7:18 AM CDT
Good god, mad, you turn this into an anti-conservative comment, making you a one trick show. Both sad and fun when you show your true face and its single dimension.
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IN RESPONSE:
NutsInNY
Mar 19, 09 8:12 AM CDT
Poor Robbie: such a sniveling minority anymore in a progressive America...
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IN RESPONSE:
Rob
Mar 19, 09 8:25 AM CDT
As usual, nuts, you don't even make sense. When you try to jab all you can manage to do is push with a rope.
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Mad
Mar 19, 09 1:19 PM CDT
Rob is becoming my favorite twitch puppet. Sometimes, when I make an especially salient post pointing out the filth of the republican party, I laugh out loud, wondering which monkey will dance for me first. There you go Rob. Twitch away! Reply
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UPDATED

 Beltway Sniper Executed 

John Allen Muhammad 'quiet and relaxed' before lethal injection

Nov 10, 09 8:25 PM CST
(Newser) - The state of Virginia executed John Allen Muhammad, the so-called Beltway sniper, tonight, with the man who led the 2002 shooting spree that killed 10 dying of lethal injection at 9:11 EST. The 48-year-old was “quiet and relaxed,” a prison official tells CBS’ Andrew Cohen . “I... More »

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 Va. Gov 
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Muhammad will be executed tonight in Virginia

Nov 10, 09 11:13 AM CST
(Newser) - Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has denied clemency for Beltway sniper John Allen Muhammad, clearing the way for Muhammad's execution at 9pm tonight. Muhammad, whose appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court yesterday, will die by lethal injection, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch . His 2002 shooting spree with younger accomplice Lee Boyd... More »

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